Way of the Knights

---

"Welcome to our tribe, Gentle Outsider. I am Neman the current leader of the Gentle Cradle Tribe."

Raven inspected him briefly and saw that, just like the rest of the people in the tribe, he too is in a bad state. His back was bent, his robes were extremely dirty, all of his teeth are missing, his skin was wrinkled and has a few black patches which looked like a skin disease, he's also incredibly skinny, almost as if he haven't eaten anything for weeks. In all honesty, Raven thought that it was a miracle that this old man is still alive.

"Nice to meet you, Tribe Leader Neman. My name is Raven, please excuse my intrusion to your tribe." 

"It's alright." Neman said in a dry voice, it was then followed by a fit of coughing which sounded very dry. Raven hurriedly took out a jug of water and placed it on his lips gently. 

As the old man took a sip, there was a trace of brilliance in his eyes which didn't escape Raven's vision. Even without Raven's assistance, the old man immediately emptied the whole leather jug by himself as tears flowed down from his eyes. After he emptied the leather jug, there was a trace of reluctance in his eyes. 

"I never thought that I would be able to drink something of this caliber. It felt so soothing and warm." Neman said as he returned the leather jug to Raven and said: "Thank you for your generosity, Kind Raven. It's a shame that out little tribe doesn't have anything to offer for your presents. But if there's anything we could do to help, do tell us. We will try our best to help you out."

Raven could feel the kindness in the old man's voice. He smiled and shook his head, "It's alright, Tribe Leader. For now I just want to know if there's anything you could tell me about this tribe."

Neman sighed sadly and said: "What's there to tell? We are in a bad state. It is my life's biggest blessing that I am able to reach the age of 60 in this kind of environment. As for the rest, well I suppose I don't have to explain it further, do I?"

Raven nodded and shared his sentiments, he then took out fruit slices and passed it down to the elder to eat. Neman nodded once again and started consuming the fruits. 

Once again, his tears flowed down from his face. "Ah, this must came from paradise. This taste, this softness, this feeling. I almost feel guilty being blessed like this. Now that I've tasted this heavenly treat, I no longer have any regrets and could pass on peacefully."

Raven shivered from head to toe as he said that, he then faced Neman and said: "Tribe Leader, please don't say things like that. You will make your people sad."

"Haha, don't fret young friend. This is just me being emotional, I do still want to live for a little longer so don't worry."

Raven smiled wryly and then took Neman's hand and sent some of his energies to check his body. After a while of checking, he took out some medicine and made him consume it. This medicine is quite different from the one he used to Nana's parents as this one is gentler.

Once Neman consumed the medicine, an incredible scene occurred. His bent back was slowly straightening up, the black patches on his skin disappeared and his face regained some colors. Neman felt himself floating through the clouds. He never felt this comfortable in his entire life, it was like he was basking under a gentle trickle of rain after experiencing a year long drought. 

He opened his eyes and he could almost swear that the world wasn't this colorful before. The senses that were failing him before now returned, breathing also became easier for him. Neman felt alive. 

Neman then stared at Raven and hurriedly prostrated in front of him much to the latter's panic and surprise. As he was about to ask what he was doing, Neman said:

"Either you are God or one of his Envoys. No matter what the case, in behalf of my people, thank you for gracing our tribe with your presence, O Holy One."

Raven hurriedly helped him up and replied: "Tribe Leader, I am no God of Envoy of his. I am but a human, who happens to have some incredible abilities, nothing more. There is no need to prostate like this, please stand up."

Neman who heard his words were stunned, he asked: "I-It can't be. Your a Human too? B-But how?"

"While it might be hard for you to believe, I am indeed a human just like the rest of you." Raven stated simply as he assisted Neman on his seat. "We just happen to learn some ancient knowledge which enables us to perform incredible feats."

"We? Us?" Neman asked with wide eyes.

Raven nodded and explained: "Indeed, there's a lot of people like me back in the Kingdom. Some of them are even more incredible that I am." 

Before Neman could even ask something, a little girl pulled Raven's sleeves. Raven looked down and saw that it was Nana who was pulling his sleeves. He then heard her ask: "Big Brother, what's a Kingdom?"

He smiled and picked her up, he then sat with her on his lap and said: "Hmm. To put it simply, it's like a tribe that stretches as far as the eyes could see. There also more people in it compared here."

Raven was also aware that it wasn't just her who's curious about where he came from. Neman and the rest were already listening intently to him as he answered her question.

"Really!?" Nana's eyes shone, "Many people? How many Big Brother?"

"Millions of people." Raven replied, but when he saw Nana tilted her head in confusion, he thought that he had to be more creative in his description.

"Do you know what a Mountain is?" Raven asked, Nana nodded her head so he continued: "If you stack a million people on top of each other, you could form a tall mountain. That's how many people we have."

"Waa~!!" Nana exclaimed, not really knowing what to say, "Say Big Brother? Are there a lot of food and water in your home?"

"Of course!" Raven nodded and decided to brag a little bit, "We never ran out of food and will never run out of it. We have so much that we have to eat at least three times a day in order to make sure we leave them to rot in there. As for water, we have even more of that. Back in my home, all you have to do is ask and anyone would give you water. The same one's I gave you before."

Nana's eyes were shining like brilliant stars as she listened to his stories. Even the one's who are listening were gaping at him. They looked at their empty plates and jugs while thinking about his statement. 

That plate of food was something they will gladly risk their lives for yet in Raven's home, there was too much that it was rotting. This jug of clean water is something that they will gladly sell their souls for but it was given for free. How could there be such a thing? 

Some didn't buy it, but for some reason they wanted to believe him. 

"Big Brother? Isn't it dangerous outside? Mama and Papa always told me that there are big and scary monsters outside that could eat me whole. Aren't you afraid of them?"

"Hmm." Raven mused for a bit and said: "It is true that there are big and scary monsters outside, but we are stronger than most of them. Yes, others could eat you whole but in our home we eat them instead. And I won't be here if I'm afraid of them, right?"

*Squawk!*

"Speaking of which…" Raven narrowed his eyes as he heard that. 

The tribesmen who heard the similar thing shivered and hurriedly dropped to the ground. They looked at the skies only to see a huge bird flying down towards their tribe. 

"Uwaa!! It's the Lord!! What do we do! He's gonna eat us again!" Nana panic as she clutched Raven's clothes. 

"Lord?" Raven frowned, it was Neman who explained what she meant.

"It's the Lord Bird. Every six months, it will fly down to our tribe and claim some lives. We tried fighting it multiple times but failed, we will just end up with more injured people so we stopped resisting." Neman sighed and continued: "Please hide yourself young friend. We can't allow you to be injured because of out negligence."

"Are you serious?" Raven asked almost in a rhetorical manner, "This little bird is bullying you?"

"L-Little Bird…" Neman was stunned by how Raven address something they called as the Lord. He then saw Raven shook his head and comforted the scared Nana.

"Don't be afraid." Raven said as he walked with Nana in his arms. Everyone panicked when the saw him do this but their fear prevented them from moving forward. Seeing Raven bravely walking forward made the 'Little Bird' angry so it let out some threatening squeals.

"Noisy." Raven waved his hand and just like that, the head of the Little Bird exploded into bits and pieces. He then looked at Nana who was staring agape in his arms and said: 

"See? I told you I'm strong."